Familiar and Yet So Far
by thederpypikachu98
Summary: Monkey D. Luffy is bored. Multiple lifetimes after the events of One Piece, he's living through yet another life, knowing his crew and family aren't being reincarnated like him, and bored out of his mind... or they aren't entirely like him. From zero to a million, he has to relearn how to not be bored for once. Rated T! I don't own the cover image, or One Piece.


**_A/N:_****_ *awkwardly slides into ffn a million years late*_**

**_uh... heyyyyyyyyyyyyy_**

**_so_**

**_I'm not dead?  
Basically lots of stuff going on, lots of classes, I've got 2 part-time jobs, plus it's winterguard season and shows literally start in... like, three days, so, uh, there's that. I also got a new puppy this summer and we're dealing with behavior stuff between her and my other two dogs which is REALLY stressful. And, y'know. Ya girl is on the struggle bus. She's on the struggle bus with no driver and it's going backwards on the highway and it's accelerating and has no brakes._**

**_I also made the life choice to start watching One Piece._**

**_It's a great life choice, but the anime has over what, 725+ episodes? So I decided, hey, I have a job, I can actually save up for the Funimation subscription, let's do that. And I started watching One Piece on Jan. 17 2020._**

**_It's the 22nd (as of me posting this) and I'm already on episode, like, 77. I also have to finish watching SNK/Attack on Titan s3 and I have to catch up on BNHA s4. And I gotta get tickets for the BNHA movie when it comes to the US in February._**

**_I'm busy._**

**_Oops._**

**_So I WROTE THIS MESS-_**

**_Disclaimer: I do NOT own One Piece. Any mentioned characters or other copyrighted things are NOT for profit. Any relation to actual people are not intentional._**

**_Warning: Swearing, death, fighting, injuries, basic anime stuff, the works._**

**_Disclaimer 2: I'm only on season 2 and have a very basic idea of One Piece. Don't spoil anything in PMs or reviews because that's an asshole thing to do. (Yes, I'm fully aware I'm 20 years late but LEAVE ME ALONE). I know SOME things, like who is the 9 crew members and sorta the idea of Luffy's brothers and all that, but not anywhere near as much as anyone else. So yeah. NO SPOILERS._**

* * *

Matthew D. Leo was bored.

Not just with his current situation, either. With life, really. And everything.

Matthew D. Leo was a high school student in a boarding school who didn't care much for grades, appearances, social skills, relationships, or anything of the sort.

After all, what was the point in going through life again if he'd done it dozens of times before?

Monkey D. Luffy was bored as fuck and wanted to go kill a few sea monsters or fight a crew of rogue pirates.

* * *

_**Monkey D. Luffy/Matthew D. Leo's POV**_

* * *

"-the Great Pirate Era began almost a thousand years ago after the execution of the former Pirate King, Gold Roger," the teacher droned on, pointing at timelines and maps displayed on the wall. "It wasn't until over two decades later that the next and only other Pirate King emerged. Monkey D. Luffy was merely seventeen when he conquered what was once known as the Grand Line and acquired the legendary pirate treasure, the One Piece. His crew was known as the Straw Hat Pirates and consisted of…"

Unbeknownst to everyone in the room, Monkey D. Luffy himself was sitting in the third row, four seats back, and he was falling asleep. Luffy usually chose to keep his original name in secret or private, but continued to use whatever name his current life had been given for practical reasons. But even now, he was tired, and spent most of his classes doodling, sleeping, or straight up skipping. Living through history, or geography, or the changes in mathematics, or knowing over two dozen languages made school both easy and pointless for him.

Throughout his lifetimes, Luffy had searched for his crew, but never found any of them. Either he was special, or he had just missed them, or they simply didn't remember any of their past lives like he did.

"-some of the people the Straw Hats defeated included many pirates, as well as government officials and criminals," his teacher continued. "Monkey D. Luffy usually was the brawler and was said to be the one to fight the most, if not all, of their major battles. The Straw Hats defeated pirates such as Buggy the Clown, Crocodile, Arlong, and many others. No one really knows how he was able to complete such feats, as it was very clearly recorded that he did not use weapons…"

Yawning, Luffy decided to have some fun.

Thrusting his hand into the air, he said loudly, "what about the Devil Fruits?"

Everyone stared at him, and the teacher sighed. "Matthew, the Devil Fruits didn't really exist and were merely fairy tales. Monkey D. Luffy was likely a skilled martial artist. Anyways-"

"Wait," Luffy interjected. "But really, what if the Devil Fruits were real? It would explain all the tons of fights and archaeological evidence." He nodded to the map, which had many different colored pins in several locations.

Before the teacher could respond, the bell rang, and Luffy grinned; he'd successfully distracted the teacher to evade their usually long homework assignments. _Boom._

Sweeping out into the hall alongside dozens of other students, Luffy made his way to the lunchroom. He still had his massive appetite and often had to steal in his past lives in order to survive. Luckily for him, in this life, his parents were somewhat well off, thanks to their high-ranking jobs running some major corporation or other. They didn't show up much at home, but they did give him a large allowance, so he usually bought food or pirate stuff.

Following the line of students into the cafeteria, he absentmindedly picked out his usual meal of school hamburgers, soggy fries, half-cold water bottles, and whatever fruit and vegetables the school forced kids to buy in order to be 'healthy'. Passing through the checkout, he headed for his usual table in the center of the room.

The Going Merry, as he'd halfheartedly nicknamed it, was wobbly and had hardly any comfortable chairs. He'd scratched a little sheep's head into the surface of the table where he sat, one day when he'd been lost in memories.

As such, no one ever sat with him since he was always that 'weird' kid who slept or skipped through everything but still managed nearly perfect grades.

_Seriously, living through history throughout his multiple lives was getting tiring. He couldn't even fight anymore since pirates and sea monsters were things of the past._

A flash of green caught his eye as he methodically swallowed his burgers. Glancing up for half a second, he nearly choked and managed to swallow before he dissolved into a coughing fit.

"Hey. Kid. You good?" a painfully familiar voice asked him.

Nodding, Luffy wiped his mouth before taking a deep breath and looking up. "Y-yeah, sorry." He looked Roronoa Zoro in the eye and tried not to flinch as the older man - well, teenager, now - shifted his weight. "Did you, uh, did you need something?"

For a second, he thought Zoro was going to stand and stare at him forever. Then the once-swordsman pointed at one of the many empty chairs at the table. "Can we have some of these?"

Somewhat taken aback, Luffy nodded and watched as Zoro easily picked up three or four of the chairs. He carried them over to a clearly overflowing table nearby. Like the other students there, Zoro wore a letterman jacket with a name on the back. 'Rowan Zion' dropped the chairs and immediately was shouting and horsing around with the others at the table. It looked like a mixture of athletic kids from all kinds of sports; he could see a bowling bag, a fencing bag, a few baseball, soccer, and football bags, and even a couple hockey and lacrosse bags.

It made him somewhat sad to see his old friend off with others who had no idea what they had done in the past, what they'd done together as a crew.

But Luffy turned back to his meal, somewhat subdued, and left as soon as he'd tossed his garbage out.

* * *

_**Monkey D. Luffy/Matthew D. Leo's POV**_

* * *

Lost in thought, Luffy hadn't been paying attention while walking through the hallway, so when the wall suddenly exploded inward, he was caught right in the line of fire.

A short shriek was ripped from his throat before he slammed into the opposite wall, the impact crushing half a dozen lockers as he collapsed. His vision swam for a moment as he gasped for air.

People were screaming. Rubble shifted and dust filled the air as he pushed himself to his feet.

"Hey!" he heard, and hope swelled in his chest momentarily before he realized he was Matthew D. Leo right now, not Monkey D. Luffy, and Roronoa Zoro was Rowan Zion. Rowan grabbed his arm and began running. "We gotta get out of here! Move your ass!"

Luffy wheezed as Rowan dragged him away from the scene. Something urged him to look back, and he went pale. "Oh _fuck_."

Standing there was a nine-foot-tall, humanoid beast, clad in an open Hawaiian shirt and beach shorts. Sharp claws glinted as it swiped dust off its pectorals and six-pack. A very familiar, razor-sharp nose protruded above a mouth full of shark teeth as animalistic eyes narrowed.

"Where are you, Straw Hat?!" Arlong snarled, stepping further into the hall. "I know you're in this pathetic little building!"

They scrambled for the end of the hall, the rest of the students having run down towards the other side, leaving them alone in this half of the hallway. Rowan was clearly high on adrenaline, breath coming in quick pants and clutching at Luffy's upper arm as they raced for the doors. Said doors were closed, and Luffy prayed to whatever the hell was up in the sky that they were unlocked.

Right as they were about to crash into the doors, Arlong flung a massive chunk of wall and lockers their way.

Instinct and muscle memory took over instantly.

Luffy twisted, flinging his arm to the side and grabbing hold of a drinking fountain that was set back in a small alcove. Wrapping his other arm around Rowan, he whipped his arm short and yanked the two of them out of the path of the flying debris.

"FOUND YOU!" Arlong bellowed, and Luffy swore colorfully.

He turned to face an absolutely stunned Rowan. "Listen, this guy's dangerous. You have to get out of here. I'll handle him, but you _have_ to make sure no one, not even the police or EMTs, get near him. He'll kill them!" Everything was said in a rush, but he was sure Rowan could understand most of what he was trying to say.

Rowan sputtered. "Handle him?! You're a _twig!_ How the hell-"

In response, Luffy grabbed his own hair and yanked it to the side. His neck stretched rapidly to allow him to dodge a chunk of concrete that flew overhead. Letting go, he checked around the corner to see where Arlong was.

"You're-" Rowan inhaled sharply. "What the _hell_ are you?!

Luffy grabbed him and nodded, grinning widely. "I'm made of rubber, nice to meet you, but I'm also a pirate, and unfortunately the only crew member who's also been reincarnated at the moment doesn't remember anything, so I'm on my own." Winding up his arm, he offered a somewhat sheepish grin. "Don't move, okay?"

"WHAT THE FU-" Rowan screeched as he was flung like a javelin down the hall, narrowly brushing Arlong's shoulder.

Now alone, Luffy stepped into the middle of the hallway, facing the fishman.

Arlong threw his head back and roared with laughter. "You haven't changed a bit in all these years, Straw Hat!" he snarled, baring white teeth.

"And neither have you," Luffy growled and memories of their last fight flooded his mind. "But I've lived countless lives and learned how to kick ass even better."

The fishman lunged, thrusting his sharp nose towards him. Luffy ducked and danced on light feet, managing to stretch an arm out. Yanking himself past Arlong to the far end of the hall was easy for his battle-trained body, and he kicked off his shoes and rolled up his jeans in preparation. He dodged again as Arlong charged.

"Stay still, you brat!" bellowed Arlong as he spun, nearly crashing into a row of lockers. "Let me kill you!"

Cracking his knuckles, Luffy's grin widened. "Nah." A flex of his hands, and his arms began to stretch. "I'll just come back." He slammed his fists forward and managed to hit flesh multiple times. "Again." Teeth shattered this time. "And again," he continued, arms snapping around the fishman to send him crashing to the ground. "And again!" Clasping his hands around Arlong's ankle, he twisted and flung him at the wall.

* * *

_**Roronoa Zoro/Rowan Zion's POV**_

* * *

Groaning, the fish-monster pushed the rubble off of his huge body. He hauled himself to his feet and seemed to fix his useless shirt.

Across the school lawn, hundreds of students and staff members stood, frozen in horror at the blue monstrosity that emerged from the school. Someone whimpered, and the monster's smirk widened. "Oh? Are these humans trying to run away? What about a little motivation, Straw Hat Brat?!" Without warning, he lunged forward, crossing dozens of meters in mere seconds. He plucked Zion out of the crowd and lifted him into the air with one hand around his throat. "Maybe if I have a little fun, you might actually fight me!"

Students trembled as the beast towered over them, holding Rowan high above the ground. Zion wheezed, terror flooding his veins as he kicked desperately.

"Don't you fucking touch him, you bastard!"

The students gawked as Matthew D. Leo stepped out from the half destroyed school building.

He lifted his head and clenched one fist before him, holding it level with his chest. "I told you, I'm gonna kick your ass!"

Bursting into laughter, the fish-monster shook Zion, who clutched at his throat with tears in his eyes. His lungs struggled in an attempt to draw in air and he could already feel the bruising around his neck forming. "I knew it! You really are just a weak little brat! Humans have too many damn attachments!"

"Nah. The only ones I'm attached to are dead." Matthew's eyes seemed to blaze with determination and fury. "And soon, you're gonna be dead, too!"

Everyone gawked as he took a step forward. He wound one arm back and made a throwing motion.

But to Zion's shock, his arm stretched, elongating rapidly towards them. His hand snagged the fish-monster's ankle and yanked, hard.

With a shout, the monster tumbled to the ground, dropping Zion in the process. Hands snatched for him and pulled him away from the beast as he rolled over and struggled to suck in air.

Abruptly, Matthew's arm shortened with a rubbery _thwack_, and he shot towards them. The two clashed, bellowing and roaring as fists flew and teeth snapped.

"Holy shit," someone sobbed.

Zion continued to try and gulp in oxygen, throat aching and sore. But he never once took his eyes off of Matthew - no, he didn't take his eyes off the pirate, because whatever the_ hell_ Matthew was, he was pretty sure that the sophomore being a pirate was a hundred percent fact at this point. History had whispered about things called Devil Fruits, that gave people crazy powers when they were eaten, and that flashed through his mind as he watched.

And, as Matthew punched and kicked and spun, his body twisting and stretching and compressing like rubber, Zion thought his movements and actions seemed almost familiar.

"Just GIVE UP!" the beast roared, snapping his teeth and narrowing missing Matthew's neck.

With a kick, Matthew crushed the fish-monster's jaws together, shattering his shark teeth. He laughed wildly. "Never! Nothing could _ever_ make me give up, not even you, Arlong!"

Energy seemed to fill the air as Matthew stomped, hard. His foot was driven into the ground up to the middle of his shin, shaking the earth. Swinging his free leg upward, his grin widened enough to seem almost inhuman.

Zion's breath caught in his throat again. _Why the hell is that move so familiar?! Why does it feel like I know what he's doing?!_

"Gum-gum…" Matthew shouted, leg rocketing upward, foot passing the clouds in seconds.

Everyone, including Zion, went still, holding their breaths.

Arlong's eyes widened in shock and realization.

**_"BATTLEAXE!"_**

In less than half a second, Matthew's leg shrank and came crashing down on Arlong's head. The resulting shockwave sent students and staff staggering backwards and dust into the air.

Zion was the first to try and see what exactly had happened. His jaw dropped when he saw Matthew, foot planted on top of Arlong's limp - and likely dead - body, all of the grass gone from the area. The earth was cracked and impacted like a crater around him. All of the glass in the school had shattered.

Chest heaving, Matthew put his kicking foot down and yanked his other leg out of the ground. One hand seemed to quickly fly to the top of his head before it faltered and fell back to his side.

Matthew's dark eyes met his own, and then the boy collapsed.

People cried out, until Zion heard a very distinct sound coming from him.

_Is he __**sleeping?!**__ Why do I feel so annoyed but also relieved? I should be terrified!_

Sirens announced the arrivals of the emergency services, and he abandoned those thoughts in favor of _oh yeah, I just got choked and my throat feels like absolute shit._

* * *

_**A/N:**__** I'll likely actually finish a story for once since One Piece is so long and I write and edit during the boring filler episodes. Plus there's a ton of actual good canon content to keep me motivated.**_

_**(*cough* Diaries/Aphmau *cough*) (literally i've given up on MCD and my aphmau fics. the fandom is toxic and her series has turned into a very dramatic, money-driven thing in my opinion. soooooo yeah. also i WILL update/rewrite a bunch of my stuff on here but i'm busy and also we're gonna do 1 at a time and this is 1 im focusing on rn)**_

_**Disclaimer 3: I am in no way Japanese or East Asian or a pirate. I deeply apologize in case of any accidental misunderstandings. I use the Funimation English translation and am learning Japanese off of Duolingo but am not fluent. I also am not as knowledgable of Japanese culture and traditions as other people. So if anything comes across as offensive or incorrect, my knowledge is limited and it's unintentional. Most of my understanding of the culture comes from anime and manga (which is NOT the proper culture, I'm aware, but I don't have the money for traveling or guides or lots of history books so sorry!) (putting this at the bottom of fics just in case and stuff).**_

_**thanks for reading the cringe that is my author's notes k bye**_


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